Potter's Plan
by coonassblondie
Summary: In an effort to change his future and his destiny, and meet his parent's along the way, Harry finds an old spell that will transport him, along with some books, to the Marauders' seventh year.  Other characters present, a Marauders Read series.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, nor most of the text that will be in this story. All text in bold is written by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. The characters also belong to Mrs. Rowling, and no money is being made by this endeavor. Please don't sue, I'm pretty broke.**

**A/N: For those of you who have my on author alert for one of my other WIP's, I apologize that this isn't the update that you were looking for. I've been reading a lot of these "Marauders read..." stories, and I rather like them, and thought I would give it a go myself. There should be a new chapter every night, or every couple of nights, in the hopes of kicking my muse into gear. (This was actually written yesterday, but ff dot net was being stupid and wouldn't let me upload.) I plan to eventually go through all seven books, but if you want to read an already completed series, please check out the profile of jmil9. Thank you!**

Potter's Plan 

Chapter 1 - Prologue

"Mr. Weasley, may I speak with you? In private…" Harry asked the elderly red-haired man sitting in the overstuffed chair. The living room of the Burrow was a flurry of activity, with everyone home for the Christmas holiday. Arthur looked up from his paper and smiled at the man he'd come to consider another son.

"Sure, Harry, and I've asked you repeatedly to call me Arthur."

Harry grinned sheepishly in response as he scratched the back of his neck, "I know, sir, just…old habits."

"That's quite alright, just don't let it happen again." Arthur jokingly scolded as the pair made their way through the kitchen and into the back yard. When they reached the small shed where Arthur kept his collection of plugs and batteries, Harry made himself comfortable by sitting on one of the tables. Arthur, having years of experience with young men that had something they needed to get off their chest, tinkered around Harry and let the young man speak in his own time. It was only a few minutes later when Harry cleared his throat.

"Last year, after…after the funerals were over, Hermione seemed to think I needed to work through my problems. She called it survivor's guilt, and suggested I start writing, or something."

"Sounds like good advice, Hermione is a very intelligent young woman." Arthur smiled as he set about putting batteries into a torch and flicking it on and off.

"Yes, yes she is, and I tried, I really did. However, I got frustrated and went to Hogwarts library to research. I wanted to find a spell that could take all my memories and take them down on paper for me. I now have seven books of my school years, and the battle against Voldemort." Harry was pleased to see that Arthur flinched neither at the despot's name nor at his announcement he'd been casting spells upon his own brain. Arthur simply turned the torch on him and pointed it at his face.

"I assume, that in some point during Auror training, they impressed on you how dangerous it is to cast unknown spells on yourself?"

Harry grinned sheepishly, "They might've done…"

Arthur simply grinned ruefully and shook his head, "Well, what's done is done. What do you plan to do with these, erm, memoirs?" Arthur removed the blinding light from Harry's face and clicked the torch off. He turned back to his worktable while waiting for the answer.

Harry swallowed hard before continuing. "Well, that's the reason I requested a private place. You see, in my research I found another spell…The one used to make Time Turners…"

"_Tempus Conservam_." Arthur supplied for him.

"Yes, which is cast upon the sands in a Time Turner, which I'm sure you know how to work. There was a variant, though, _Tempus praeteritum…_"

Arthur's eyes widened when he realized what Harry was implying. He turned towards his son in all but blood, mouth open to argue, when Harry put a hand up.

"Hear me out, please?" Arthur simply nodded in acquiescence as he turned back toward his table.

"Thanks," Harry smiled before he continued, "I understand the dangers of time travel, I really do. One of the side effects stated in the book was that my reality, _our_ reality, could be altered, and not necessarily for the better. Arthur, I've never met my parents. I don't even remember them, I was eleven before I even saw a photograph of my mum. I've had a horrible childhood, fought a war not of my making, and killed a madman. Now, I have in my hands the means to meet the very people I've been fighting for. I'm willing to take that risk, to read these books to them, so that maybe, just possibly, they, and I might have the life that I dreamed of when I was a little boy trapped in a cupboard."

Arthur didn't dare look up from his torch, lest Harry see the tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. In the sorrow of his own family, it hadn't occurred to him that Harry might feel this way. Horrible things were known to happen to wizards who fiddled with time, who went too far back, changed too much and were caught in a paradoxical loop. It was possible, of course, or there would be no spell, but it was tricky. They would have to be careful. Coming to a resolution with his interior monologue, Arthur looked up at the man he had come to love as one of his own and simply asked,

"When do you want to begin?"

* * *

><p>As the two men made their way through the kitchen and back to the living room, Arthur cleared his throat and asked again,<p>

"Are you sure you want to do this, Harry?"

"I don't see how we can get around it. The directions were explicit in their detail, and you have to have the same amount of people from the current time period as you want from the previous time period. It's going to be difficult enough to convince them they haven't gone round the twist. Here's where we will have strength in numbers, I believe." With that, Arthur opened the door to the living room and Harry cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention.

Hermione was the first to notice the leather-bound tome Harry was carrying.

"Harry, is that a _library_ book?" Harry couldn't help but grin as his curly-haired friend.

"Why yes, yes it is, dear." At the pet name, Ron scowled good naturedly at his best mate and sent a rude hand gesture at his friend. Harry simply chucked in reply and continued "Remember when you asked me what I wanted for Christmas the other night?" At Hermione's nod and raised eyebrow, Harry flipped to the appropriate page and handed the book to her before continuing, "I've decided."

Hermione skimmed the page, and both brows shot up. Her eyes flicked back up to the top and read slower, Ron glancing over her shoulder to see what was so interesting. She smiled slightly and looked up, noticing the worried crease between Arthur's eyes.

"I think this is doable, yes. Tricky, but doable. The question is, how many people did you have in mind, and who? We'll have to find the appropriate travelers in our time, and find out if they are game."

Harry smiled in gratitude. He had been of the opinion that if he cast the spell himself, he would have a mess on his hands of royal proportions, which is something he could handle if this were a solo endeavor. However, his friends and surrogate family would be involved, and he thought he'd already put them through quite enough over the years. Hermione acquiescing had been his last hope, although he was quite surprised she'd given in so easily, and told her so.

"Well, isn't it human nature to play the 'What if" game? We, as magical beings, have the capability to alter our reality, and sometimes, the obligation. So, yes, Harry, if you want me to help you, I will." After Hermione's impassioned speech, there were several noises of assent and agreement.

"However," she continued, "we'll have to decide on, and agree, where to perform the spell, who to summon from the past, and what year they should come from. Since this is your venture, who did you have in mind, besides your parents?"

"Well," Harry started, grinning broadly at his two best mates, "Remus and Sirus, for starters. Frank and Alice Longbottom, although I'm not sure what her maiden name is,"

"It's Prewett," Molly answered from her chair, where she'd been knitting and taking the conversation in. "She's my second cousin. You might want to get a head count of everyone interested in going from the present, and then plan accordingly. I'm certainly fascinated, as I'm sure Arthur is," Molly smiled at her husband of so many years, and he grinned like a schoolboy in return.

"That's a good point, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied, not being able to force himself to call his surrogate mother by her first name. "By show of hands, who all is interested in going?

Molly, Arthur, Ron, Hermione, George and Ginny all raised their hands. Bill and Fleur glanced at each other, then at baby Victoire, who'd been sleeping peacefully in her bassinet, then both looked at Harry. Harry nodded in understanding, and also nodded at Percy, who had is arm around a very pregnant Audrey.

"I'd love to, mate, but I have to be back to work tomorrow afternoon. Dragons don't really care about time," Charlie said with a rueful smile. "Sounds like one heck of an adventure, though." Harry simply hugged his brother's neck, then watched as Charlie hugged his other siblings and finally, his parents before leaving for the Ministry through the floo.

"Well, that makes seven of us," Hermione said, counting heads. "Now, Harry, who else did you have in mind, and we can attempt to fill in the missing places. Although, I can't imagine many people would turn you down."

"So, Frank and Alice, then," Harry continued as Hermione summoned a piece of paper and produced a pen from her bag. "Also, Professor Dumbledore, and Regulus Black, and…Ron, you're not going to like this…"

Ron grimaced, pretty sure of the last person Harry had in mind. He still thought the man was a slimy git, but this was Harry's venture. Ron simply rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, before replying in an aggrieved tone, "I'll try not to hex him, mate."

"To be fair, he won't be the same Snape who made our school years hell. As for the year, Hermione, let's go with Snape and the Marauders' seventh year. Will that work for the Longbottoms too, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked, turning to the matriarch, who was shrinking her knitting and preparing to put it away for the night.

"Yes, I believe they were all in the same year, dear. You have nine names, so you need to find two more souls that are interested in this endeavor. Might I make suggestions?"

"Sure, Mum, who do you have in mind," Ron asked he stretched his arms over his head and put his arm around Hermione's shoulders. Harry tried to hide his smirk from his friend, but Hermione caught it and giggled slightly.

"Well, Neville might be interested in actually getting to know his parents, even if they are younger than he is now. And, I know you don't want to hear this, but Draco Malfoy has also been through a lot. It might do him some good to see his godfather again. Just some food for thought. Good night, dears." Molly called the last over her shoulder as she began her trek up the stairs.

"Well, I'm all for asking Neville, mate, but the other…" Ron trailed off, not knowing what to say about the young man who'd been a prat as long as they'd known him, and had only recently begun to act like a decent human being.

"Then you two approach Neville, and I'll go to Malfoy's flat. I'm just glad he doesn't live in that creepy manor anymore." Harry regretted mentioning that particular house when he saw Hermione shiver, then tremble slightly. "Hey, I'm sorry. We'll work past it, yea? Hopefully, this plan of ours will do some good and we'll come back to a happier world."

Hermione simply smiled slightly and nodded, not trusting herself to reply. Her brows shot up with Harry grabbed a hand of floo powder. In an answer to her silent question, he just replied "There's no time like the present." With that, he shouted his destination and stepped into the emerald flames.

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight, Potter," Draco continued to summarize Harry's plan, all the while with a slightly incredulous tone to his voice, "and you want <em>me<em> to accompany you, the Weasley's, Granger and Longbottom on this grand adventure into the past. I do believe you've finally gone barmy. I'm surprised it took this long."

Having suspected Draco's disbelief and argument, Harry had brought along his library book as proof. Harry was perfectly aware that Draco was rather intelligent, as he had the second highest OWLs of their year, right behind Hermione, and the highest NEWT scores, as none of the Golden Trio had bothered to take theirs. They had already received numerous job offers without the scores, and the idea had fallen by the wayside for the moment, although Harry was confident Hermione would eventually sit the exam.

Harry paced across Draco's loft as the blond perused the page. When he was done, he cleared his throat, causing Harry to pause mid-step and turn towards him and ask, "Well…?"

"The idea certainly has merits, although I still think you are mad for fiddling with time. I do have to admit my curiosity, though. Who from the past am I suppose to be representing?"

"Professor Snape," Harry replied, a small glimmer of hope starting to radiate in his chest. Perhaps his mad plan was going to come to fruition after all. He'd been harboring the hope of meeting his parents for some months, and had only within the past few weeks worked up the courage to bring it up. He'd been pleasantly shocked and surprised at his friends and acquaintances' speedy agreements.

Draco put his chin in his hand and tapped the side of his face with one long forefinger, deep in thought. Potter's plan, insane as it was, certainly had it's merits. While his father was considerably older than Potter's parents, Severus was in the same year, and as far as he knew, already acquainted with his family, and Voldemort. Shudding internally at the memory of the snake-like man sitting at his family dining table with that horrid serpent around his neck, Draco came to a resolute decision. Just as he'd done almost eight years ago, Draco stood and offered his hand to Harry Potter. This time, Harry smiled and took it, shaking briefly and smiling at him.

"I still think this is mad, Potter, but I'm in."

* * *

><p>A week later, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Arthur, Molly, George, Neville and Draco all stood with their wands out in the Room of Requirement. After a brief letter explaining their plan, and requesting permission to make use of the room, Headmistress McGonagall had approved Hermione's request. Her reasoning had been that the smartest witch of her age would hopefully stay out of too much trouble, smiling slightly at the image of the other two parts of Golden Trio, who seemed to find trouble at every turn. Hermione had been concerned about the room's usefulness, but upon inspection, had discovered that the room had somehow magically healed itself over the course of the summer, and while not quite as extravagant as it had previously been, could expand enough to be comfortable.<p>

Hermione conjured a slate with the spell's words on it, and instructed everyone briefly on how each word was to be pronounced, and how many repetitions they were to chant together before each person focused on their respective companion, while chanting at their own pace.

Twenty minutes later, there were several pops, not unlike the sound of apparition, and the Room of Requirement was filled with purple smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, the first person to speak was a tall man with a long silver beard tucked into his belt. His blue eyes twinkled as he observed the nine unfamiliar people in the room. He looked Harry over, then glanced at James Potter, who was too busy questioning his friends about what prank they'd pulled to notice his doppelganger. Clearing his throat, catching everyone's attention, Albus Dumbledore asked Harry,

"I do believe we've been summoned to the future. Care to explain?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer is in chapter 1**

**A/N: Here I am again! According to the website, this chapter is 11,316 words. So, read and tell me what you think, please. Too wordy? Not wordy enough? Also, I don't have a beta for this story. I do attempt to go back and fix my typos, and any grammatical errors, but I don't catch everything. Please let me know if you see something. Let me know what you think in a review! I love getting them, and I try to reply in a fairly timely manner. Thanks again!**

Harry stared at the headmaster for a minute, dumbstruck. He'd had a speech prepared in his head, but at the sight of his mentor, the man he'd last seen lying in a marble casket, his mind went completely blank. Sensing her friend's distress, Hermione cleared her throat.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm Hermione Granger, a future student of yours, as are all of my companions, with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Hermione stuck her hand out, and Albus shook it briefly. He glanced at the mentioned couple and opened his arms in welcome.

"Ah, Molly, Arthur! You are both looking quite well. And these must be your children." Albus gestured to the ginger-haired of the group. Arthur grinned proudly in response before replying,

"Yes, three of the seven. This is George," he placed his hand on the eldest of his sons present, who was standing next to him, "the third oldest, along with his twin. Well, er…"

"S'alright, Dad," George replied, more seriously than Harry could ever remember the fun-loving twin to be. "You see, Professor, my twin, Fred, died last year."

"Oh, my, you poor thing," Lily said, having finally gotten the Marauders to stop yelling long enough to listen to the headmaster's conversation. Before she could make her way to George to throw her arms around his neck, she felt James' hand on her shoulder.

"Look over there," James whispered in her ear, something unidentifiable in his voice, "Doesn't he look, well, familiar?" He steered her by the shoulder, turning her to face Harry, who was watching Albus' conversation with Arthur avidly, his head following along. The motion gave him the impression he was watching a table tennis match.

"Yes, well, you're handling this admirably son. I'm very proud of you," Arthur smiled sadly at the boy who had managed to bring so much laughter into his life, "and the tall one over by Harry is my second youngest, Ron. And on the other side of Harry is my youngest, and only daughter, Ginny." The two each waved slightly at the mention of their names as they took in the crowd on the other side of the room.

"And the young man who favor's Mr. Potter so much is?" Albus asked, smiling benignly at the gob smacked expression on the young man's face.

"That's my surrogate son, Harry." Arthur relished slightly the thought of the bomb he was about to drop. Anyone who got to know the Weasley patriarch well never more questioned where Fred and George got their mischievous streak from. "Also known to your future self as Mr. Potter."

* * *

><p>Once Albus had raised his wand and let out a few loud bangs, the chaos that had erupted at Arthur's announcement finally settled down. Looking around, he noticed that the group was in what appeared to be a comfortable sitting room, and suggested that they all find seats and get comfortable so that everyone could introduce themselves.<p>

There was a shuffling of feat as everyone did so, trying their best to avoid sitting near anyone not of their own house, with the exception of the Trio. Draco, in an attempt to be close to his fellow Slytherins, but not appear to be avoiding his group, sat between Severus and Harry. On the other side of Harry sat Albus, with James and Lily on his left. On their left sat Ron and Hermione, then Regulus. To Regulus' left sat Frank Longbottom, who was giving his right-hand companion curious looks, at he couldn't remember ever having met the young man, and was surprised in introducing himself to find out that he was

Sirius' younger brother. On Frank's left sat Alice, and on her left sat Molly, along with Arthur. Molly had tears in her eyes as she happily chatted with her cousin, catching up. On Arthur's left sat Neville, who was watching his parents with a hungry look in his eyes, but had remained quiet. He knew they would find out who he was in due time, he wanted to take these first few moments to observe his mum and dad happy and healthy. George sat on Neville's left, and Ginny on his left. George wondered briefly why his sister hadn't taken the opportunity to sit next to Harry, but shrugged it off. Perhaps she was trying to give him time to get to know his parents. He was also slightly in awe of the fact that two of the Marauders were sitting to the left of him. Remus and Sirius were both looking around avidly, wondering who all the new faces were, and why Dumbledore was being so trusting. They had both appeared in the room, wands out, ready to hex whoever had pulled what appeared to be an elaborate prank on not only them, but James, and apparently, the Headmaster. Sirius had initially put his money on Peter, as he was the only Marauder not present, but James had pointed out that Wormtail was not nearly sneaky enough to pull something like that off.

This arrangement seemed to work well for most people, but it had the unfortunate affect of having Remus sit between Sirius and Severus, who were shooting glares at each other over his head. He'd braced himself to hold the two off of each other when the young, dark haired man with specs cleared his throat.

"If everyone doesn't mind, I'd like us to go around and introduce ourselves. I'll start, as I'm the mastermind behind this little adventure, and the reason you are all here. My name is Harry James Potter," At Lily's slight gasp, he turned to her and smiled, his emerald eyes holding a slight twinkle. "As you might've guessed, I'm James Potter's son, and my mother was Lily Evans. I brought you all here to read some book with me, in the hopes that you, we, might be able to change things for the better."

Sirius huffed and muttered something like, "all this just to _read?_" Harry couldn't help but chuckle and reply,

"Yes, Padfoot, read. Believe me, you'll be glad you did." At Harry's use of his nickname, Sirius perked up and cocked his head to the side before replying,

"Only a few people know that name. Guess that really does make you Prongs' son."

After this exchange, they went around the room, everyone introducing themselves. At Neville's introduction, Frank and Alice looked at each other, then back at him. At Neville's smile and nod, Alice stood to give her future son a hug and Frank shook his hand. Neville regained his seat, oddly flushed, and the introductions continued. When the niceties had all been observed, Harry cleared his throat again as he pulled seven books out of his pocket and cast an _engorgio_ on the one on top of the stack.

"One of the details of this particular spell is that it freezes time, sort of. So, we have plenty of time to read at our leisure. For those of you wondering, we are currently in the Room of Requirement, on the seventh floor of Hogwarts, across the hall from the painting of trolls doing ballet."

"Hey, I know that painting!" Alice said, bouncing in her seat, "I was lost one day, first year, and really needed a loo, and a room full of commodes just appeared!"

"I have indeed, also used the room full of chamber pots," Albus replied, blue eyes twinkling as he looked around at the gathered students. "Although, I understand the house elves refer to this as the Come and Go Room, or as Harry said, the Room of Requirement. It grants access to those that truly need it. It is this reason why I'm interested in Mr. Potter's books, as the room deemed it necessary that we should be able to."

"Pardon, sir, but what would happen if the room should decide it wasn't truly needed?" Hermione asked, her inner student burning with curiosity. Ron simply grinned and shook his head at her.

"I believe we would be forcibly ejected, although I know not where. I would hope somewhere soft." Everyone's chuckled at this, including Severus, Harry and Draco were both happy to note. Deciding they had visited long enough and ready to get down to business, Harry opened the first book and held it up.

"Who would like to read first?"

"I will, Harry," Hermione replied, reaching for the book. Harry shook his head as he walked across the room to hand it to her, replying, "Of course you will."

Insert page break

Hermione opened to the first page of the book, glanced over the title, read it aloud and turned to the first chapter.

"Philosopher's Stone. Why does that sound so familiar?" Remus mused aloud, then shrugged, then blushed at his interruption.

"Don't worry, Remus, we are in no hurry. The idea is for you guys to have some idea on how to change things." Harry assured him as he waved for Hermione to continue.

Hermione simply smiled in reply as she continued, reading aloud.

"Chapter One…"

**The Boy Who Lived **

"Wonder who that is?" Ron muttered under his breath, then "ouch!" as Hermione elbowed him, not missing a beat in her reading.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"Which means they are dull," Sirius moaned. "When people say they are normal, they have no imagination."

"You have no idea," Harry muttered, but not low enough that Draco and Albus both heard him. At Draco's inquisitive look, Harry muttered, "Later."

"Dursley, I know that name," Lily said, glancing at Harry. "My sister is dating a Dursley. Horrid man."

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. **

"That certainly sounds like him," James concurred, having only met Vernon Dursley once. Lily had had to make their visit short to keep James from hexing him to kingdom come.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

"What's a drill?" Frank asked the room at large.

"It's a muggle tool that is used to bore holes in things. The things muggles think up," Arthur replied, to the surprise of both Lily and Hermione. "What?" He asked the two girls who were currently gawping at him, "do I have something on my nose?"

"No, Mr. Weasley, I mean Arthur, it's just that it never occurred to me you knew what all of your toys, I mean your collection, was actually meant for."

"Well, of course I do!" Arthur smiled at his daughter in all but blood, "What's the point in collecting something if you don't know what it's for?"

"Fair point," Hermione replied as she turned back to the book.

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. **

"That certainly sounds like Petunia," Severus said quietly. As all eyes turned on him, he smirked slightly and took a leaf out of Arthur's book. "What, do I have something on my nose? It would certainly stand out." With that, he poked the end of his own proboscis.

The room was silent for several minutes, then Harry began to chuckle, then laugh heartily. The sound was contagious. Eventually, everyone began to laugh, relieving the tension of the past hour. Finally regaining control of his emotions, Harry, still chuckling, turned to Hermione, who was wiping tears from her lashes.

"Sorry, Hermione, it's just, I needed that."

"Don't worry, Harry, I think we all did."

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. **

"Most likely a spoiled brat, from what I've met of his parents," James muttered, and grinned when he saw Harry nod in comfirmation.

"You've no idea." Harry muttered, then waved off another inquisitive look from the blond on his right. "It'll all come out eventually."

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"Well, I'm not fond of anyone knowing I'm related to you, but that's a little silly, Petunia," Lily sighed. She was aware that her sister was highly jealous of her magical abilities, but she'd hoped they were going to reconcile. This book made it sound as if they never would.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish**

"Oh, c'mon, even I know that isn't a real word," Ron said as he leaned back on the sofa he was sharing with Hermione, kicking his shoes off and lacing his hands behind his head. At the questioning stares of his audience, he shrugged and said, "We'll be here a while, might as well make myself comfortable."

Everyone looked at each other, and with several nods of assent, several pairs of shoes and robes came off and were tossed pell-mell over the backs of chairs and furniture. Hermione, now in her sock feet tucked underneath her on the sofa, continued.

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

"Hmph, like _that_ will ever happen again," James said, and Lily sighed.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"I didn't particularly want to mix with him, either," Harry said.

"I can't imagine why not," Ron replied, laughing.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

"Ooh, strange and mysterious, now we're talking," Sirius grinned, rubbing his hands together. Remus rolled his eyes and elbowed his mate. Severus, who had been watching the duo's antics, gave Remus a slight smile, and the sandy-haired teenager smiled slightly back. The two had been fairly decent acquaintances until the horrible prank Sirius had played during fifth year, and Remus was certain Severus would never forgive him. That slight smile had given Remus a glimmer of hope.

**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. **

"Yep, definitely a brat." Lily said, gritting her teeth at the thought of her sister.

"Perhaps not," Molly argued, trying to be fair. She'd wrestled several screaming children, and knew that sometimes babies just had bad days.

"We'll just have to keep reading and find out," Albus contributed, although he was of the same opinion as Lily.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"In a Muggle neighborhood, that's a bit odd," Frank muttered, and Neville nodded in agreement.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"Sounds like a bratty kid to me, also, Mum," Ginny said, laughing at the look on Molly's face.

**"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. **

"Is he joking?" Arthur asked Harry disbelievingly. He'd certainly noticed that Harry's cousin seemed lazy and spoiled, but it had never occurred to him that his parents had started catering to him at such and early age.

Harry simply shook his head in answer. Draco scowled at the thought of what his father would have done to him if he'd behaved in such an atrocious manner, even as an infant.

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map. **

"First owls, now an animagus? Wonder who it is?" George asked, receiving shrugs from everyone except Hermione and Albus.

"Well," the former replied, "there are only a few registered anamagi currently, and one of them is McGonagall. Her form is a cat."

"I bet it's Minnie," Sirius said, not bothering to correct Hermione about the number of animagi in the magical world. Catching sight of the headmaster, Sirius flushed a bit and amended, "I mean Professor McGonagall."

"I've gone on temporary sabbatical, Mr. Black. You may speak freely as long as we are in this room." With that comfort, several people in the room relaxed, including Regulus Black, who had been sitting quietly, wondering what on earth he'd bee summoned for, and Draco, who been highly uncomfortable since coming face to face with the man he'd almost murdered.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.**

"Muggles, bless them, will go to any length to convince themselves that magic doesn't exist." Arthur stated bemusedly.

"Vernon is one of the worst," Harry confirmed, "He hates anything abnormal or slightly creative."

"Dare I ask how you know that, and how you are acquainted with Vernon Dursley?" James asked his future son, who he was coming to like more and more with every passing moment. Harry simply grinned and gestured politely for Hermione to continue with a quiet, "You'll find out."

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, _looking _at the sign; cats couldn't read maps _or _signs.**

"They can if they are animagi," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, do shut up," Severus said as he cast a silencing charm on his rival. Sirius simply smirked at him and pointed his wand at himself, undoing the charm and sticking his tongue out at the Slytherin. Lily watched the exchange, surprised that the two hadn't come to fisticuffs yet. She started to convince herself that the two had matured some, then shook her head. No, it probably had more to do with the Headmaster being in the same room, despite his words.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **

"Oh, joy, more drills." Draco muttered, then looked at his neighbor in surprise when Harry chuckled and muttered back,

"Bit of a one-track mind there."

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

"Honestly! What on Earth is going on that people seem to have thrown anti-Muggle security completely out of the window?" Alice asked, throwing her hands up.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together.**

"Alright, now I'm curious as to what really _is_ going on. I suppose you lot know already?" Remus asked the travelers from the future. They all glanced around at each other, all eventually looking at Harry.

"I can't say for sure, as I didn't even skim the books beforehand, but I'm going to assume it was _that _night." Harry replied, eyes solemn.

"_What_ night?" Sirius asked, impatiently.

Hermione, instead of answering him, continued to read.

**Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

"Oh yes, the nerve. Honestly, some Muggles do actually wear cloaks. It's not _that _uncommon," Hermione rolled her eyes at Vernon's antics and continued reading, much to the amusement of Lily, Alice and Ginny.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it.**

"I highly doubt that, but there you are, he's rationalizing again." Arthur said, shaking his head. He remembered clearly the chaos of this particular day, the Ministry had had it's hands full wiping memories. It didn't surprise him that a few had slipped through the cracks.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"Like I said, one-track mind." Harry rolled his eyes at his uncle's thoughts, Draco snickering beside him. Severus, who had been watching the two interact out of the corner of his eye, noticed something dark peeking slightly out of the left sleeve of Draco's shirt. Taking a mental tally, he also noticed that while everyone had shown up in winter cloaks as a concession to the weather outside, all but three of their number had short sleeves on, the three exceptions being himself, Draco and Regulus. He also found himself wondering why the fourth Marauder had been excluded, but put this question in the back of his mind to ask later.

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. _He _didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"Alright, even I can admit that everyone seems to have gone a little, well, a lot crazy. What in Merlin's name happened to make everyone lose their heads?" Sirius asked, but sighed dramatically when his question was met with silence, and Hermione continued.

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

"Sounds like a pleasant bloke," Frank grinned at James, who scowled in response. Red sparks shot from the end of his wand, where he'd placed it in his lap when he sat down.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. **

"Like he needs one," Harry and James said at the same time, then chuckled at each other. Lily simply shook her head at the two.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.**

"Probably because they know what a git you are and are planning to hex you at the first opportunity?" Sirius asked, a slight grin on his face.

**This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying. **

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

"**-Yes, their son, Harry-"**

Again, there was silence in the room. Albus turned to the young man sitting next to him, his expression serious.

"May I ask what the whispers are about, Mr. Potter?"

"You may, but that doesn't mean I'll answer you," Harry teased his mentor, then continued, more solemnly, "I dare say you'll find out soon enough what all the fuss is about."

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. **

"Alright! Yay!" Sirius cheered as he shot fireworks from the end of his wand. Severus shook his head slightly, then smirked at Sirius.

"It's a Muggle expression, you dolt. It means he stopped suddenly."

"I know that, you prat," Sirius replied, "I just wanted to ease the tension a bit." With that, he stuck his tongue out at Severus and blew a raspberry in his direction. Unfortunately, most of his spittle landed on Remus cheek. Remus turned toward him, a scowl on his face,

"Watch it, Black, or I'll make that tongue disappear altogether."

Sirius, noticing Remus fingering his wand slightly, mimed zipping his lips shut and leaned back in his seat, trying his best to look angelic.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. **

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid.**

"Not that he has to try hard," Draco muttered to Harry, who grinned.

George, who'd been glancing at everyone in turn and trying his best to keep his comments to himself, had been watching Harry and Malfoy for several minutes. He glanced at his sister, who grinned at his raised eyebrow and jerk of his head. She simply shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes up, in a "what do you do?" manner.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew _was _called Harry. **

Lily looked incredulously at the book, then at her son, blurting out angrily,

"He didn't even know your name?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure he knows it now." Harry replied, chuckling.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"It didn't occur to him that Harry is a short of Harold?" James asked, bemused, "and Harvey is stupid. I wouldn't name my son that."

"Am I named after someone besides you?" Harry asked his father, who nodded in confirmation and replied,

"Yes, my father's name is Harold. I assume we named you Harry to differentiate. Have you ever met your grandparents?"

"No, I assume they are all deceased, although I've never asked."

"Yes, your Potter grandparents have gone on," Molly supplied, "but I'm not sure about the Evans side."

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if _he'd _had a sister like that…**

"She'd hex you into oblivion, hopefully," James muttered quietly, then rubbed his arm where Lilly punched him.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **

"How rude," Alice rolled her eyes.

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. **

"I'm surprised he knows that word," Harry chuckled, "I've certainly never heard him say it." Hermione frowned concernedly at him before continuing.

**On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!"**

**Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

Again, the silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Regulus, who had been quietly observing and listening, finally whispered,

"He's gone? He's finally gone?"

At his strangled whisper, chaos broke out through the room. Everyone from the past spoke over each other. After a few minutes of cacophony, Harry set off a few fireworks from the end of his wand, gathering everyone's attention.

"Now that the cat is out of the bag," Harry said seriously, "You should have some idea of why you are here. Everyone here has plays an important part in these books, and I ask that you withhold judgment until the end, no matter what your current opinion happens to be." At this, Harry cast a particularly potent glare at both Sirius and James.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"His arms fit?" George asked, trying to lighten the mood. He was awarded with a few chuckles.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

"Told you," Harry muttered to Draco and rolled his eyes.

"Without imagination, we would lead dead boring lives," Remus states, eyes aglow with mischief.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. **

"McGonagall," Sirius muttered and Hermione rolled her eyes. Although she could admit to herself she was curious what the Transfiguration professor was doing there, she kept her musings to herself.

**It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"That confirms it, it's her," Remus said, chuckling at the triumphant look on Sirius' face.

"No on was arguing with you, mate," James said, laughing.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

"Oh, like that will work," Ron laughed.

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. **

"I'll bet she did. Better men than him have quailed under that look." Frank said as he laid his head on Alice's shoulder. Neville smiled quietly at his parents obvious affection for each other.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. **

"She'll find out eventually," Lily sighed. "I have a feeling that we are going to come up soon, as the book is about our son, not his aunt and uncle."

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Ok, I concede, he's a brat. I should like to take a switch to his bottom if my son argued with me." Molly said, folding her arms. She was satisfied when both present sons grimaced and nodded in agreement.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: **

**"_And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" _**

**"_Well, Ted," said the weatherman, _**

"Sounds like this Ted bloke knows more than he's letting on." Frank mused aloud.

"He does, he's my cousin Andy's husband. He's a muggle-born." Sirius replied, grinning.

_**"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." **_

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

"I knew it, here's where we come in," Lily sighed, leaning against James for support. She had her suspicions as to why her sister and her horrid husband were the topic of this chapter, but she didn't want to face that situation until she knew for sure.

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister. **

"Oh, Tuney…" Lily sighed,

"It's not your fault, Lily," Severus said quietly from the other room.

"I know, Sev, I just wish there were something I could do."

Although several questioning glances had been sent across the room, no one dared ask what they were talking about, and no one offered any information. Harry watched the exchange with a small, sad, smile. It seemed forgiveness had already been given and received.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?" **

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

**"_So?_" snapped Mrs. Dursley. **

**"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… _her _crowd."**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?" **

"What age would you be at this point, Mr. Potter?"

"About fifteen months, sir, this chapter takes place November of 1981. I was born July 1980."

"So, eleven years from our time." Albus replied thoughtfully.

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. **

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?" **

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"It is not," Lily replied staunchly. "It's better than Dudley, at any rate."

"I quite agree," Harry replied, grinning at his mother.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." **

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. **

"I wonder what she's waiting for?" Alice asked aloud, but received no answer in reply from the room, which she found maddening.

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"Oh, poor dear," George muttered sarcastically to his sister, causing her to giggle.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters _were _involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect _them…_**

"Believe me, I'd rather you not be involved either, you big lout," James seethed as Lily rubbed comforting circles on his neck.

**How very wrong he was. **

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"She certainly has to be uncomfortable," Severus mused out loud to the young blond next to him. He'd introduced himself as a Malfoy, but Severus was having a hard time comparing the quiet young man next to him to Lucius.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. **

"Guess we've found out what, or rather, who, she's been waiting on," Remus said as he glanced at his mates.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. **

"And I finally enter the picture," Albus chuckled, still slightly concerned about what was actually happening. While he was happy that Voldemort was gone for the time being, he was aware that that event had come at a price.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"Oh, I'm certain I was aware of it," Albus said to the room at large, "and I'm quite certain I don't care." At this statement, everyone chuckled except Severus, who just rolled his eyes at the headmaster's antics.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"You don't sound very surprised, sir," Lily grinned at the headmaster.

"I probably wasn't, Ms. Evans. It's hard to say, as I cannot account for the actions of my future self."

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. **

"Cool, I want one!" Sirius looked pleadingly at Albus, "Please?"

"Apologies, Mr. Black, as I haven't invented this particular gadget yet."

Harry and Ron traded secretive grins, and at Malfoy's questioning look, Harry muttered a low "later."

**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. **

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." **

"Hah! Told you!" Sirius shouted triumphantly.

"No one said you were wrong, Padfoot," Remus replied, shaking his head.

"Padfoot?" Alice mouthed to Lily and Frank, who both shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads in confusion.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-ooking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked. **

"Because only McGonagall can sit that stiffly," Sirius chuckled.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." **

"I think like, Dumbledore! Groovy!" Sirius laughed, while Lily rolled her eyes.

"Please stop saying that, Sirius," Lily pleaded at the same time that Albus replied,

"I appreciate the compliment, Mr. Black."

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall. **

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." **

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. **

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." **

"Well, we're not completely stupid," Lily huffed and Hermione giggled in response and nodded in agreement.

"No, quite the contrary, actually," Arthur replied, smiling, "It's amazing the things muggles come up with to compensate for not having magic. Ingenious, really."

"Dad loves Muggles," Ron smiled at his father indulgently.

"Well, that's alright, he could be on the other extreme," James replied, shooting a dark look across the room at Severus, who had the decency to blush at the implication.

**She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense." **

"Nice bloke, though," Arthur smiled, "but she is correct. He doesn't have much sense."

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." **

The room suddenly because quiet and tense again. Harry wondered briefly how many of these moments there were going to be in the upcoming days, and resigned himself to the imminent roller-coaster of emotions. He felt a warm pressure on his shoulder and turned to find Draco's hand offering him a bit of support. He smiled slightly, and the blond squeezed gently then removed his hand back into his lap.

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really _has _gone, Dumbledore?" **

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. **

There were a variety of emotions of each face. Some had relief, like Severus and Regulus, some joy, like Sirius and James, and some a bit of careworn sorrow, like the Weasleys and the trio of friends, who were perfectly aware that Voldemort was hardly gone for good.

**"We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A _what_?" **

"They are muggle candies, they are rather good, if a bit sour." Lily smiled, thinking she should like to have some candies.

A tiny, wizened little elf with white spurts of hair coming out of both ears popped suddenly into the room, bearing a tray with an assortment of candies and fizzy drinks. As everyone chose what they wanted off the tray, Harry and Regulus got a good look at the elf at the same moment, and asked simultaneously,

"Kreacher?"

Kreacher, not sure who to answer first, whirled around to face Harry, his locket swinging with him and bouncing on his chest as he replied "Master Harry, Kreacher was working in the Hogwarts kitchens and got the sudden feeling that Master Harry was wanting lots of sweeties. So Kreacher is bringing a tray of sweeties for master Harry and his friends."

Harry, unsure how the elf even know where to find him, was struck with the memory of a tearful old elf recounting to him how he'd let his master down. He waited for Kreacher to take a breath before turning him gently towards Regulus. As Harry expected, the elf's eyes widened to size of grey tennis balls and he fell at Regulus's feet, kissing the tops of his boots.

Regulus, chuckling at his childhood friend's antics, grabbed Kreacher by the arms and hauled him to his feet, then asked,

"Kreacher, did you come from Mother's house or from Harry's time?"

"Kreacher came from Master Harry's time, but Kreacher is being glad, since Kreacher is seeing Master Regulus again." The elf sobbed in reply, taking huge, racking gulps of air.

"You'll see more of me, Kreacher, but right now we are busy. Would you like to come back and visit me after we are done for the evening?" At the elf's vehement nodding, Regulus turned to Harry and said,

"If that's all right with you, of course. Kreacher is apparently your elf."

"Fine with me," Harry grinned, "Kreacher, go back to the kitchens for now, and come back around nine-thirty? And thank you for the tray."

Kreacher, still taking deep gulps of air, could only nod in reply before his disappeared with a pop. Harry looked up, and caught the incredulous look on Sirius' face.

"Don't worry, it will all be explained." Harry smiled at his godfather.

"Barking, the lot of you," Sirius muttered, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded.

Hermione, who had been smiling slightly at the reunion, asked if everyone was ready to continue reading. At a general noise of assent, she picked the book up from her lap and started again.

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of." **

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who _has _gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: _Voldemort_."**

"Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself," Dumbledore stated, as he unstuck two lemon drops and popped one in his mouth, and handed the other to Harry, who promptly did the same. Draco watched this with a look of slight disgust, then shook his head as he chose a pastry from the tray.

"By show of hands, who in here calls Voldemort by his name?" Harry asked around his candy as he held his hand up. He was proud to see that all of the people from his time period, and most of the people from the past, with the exception of Severus and Regulus, raised their hands.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"That's because you have little to be afraid of, sir," Ginny laughed, then continued, "You have powers Voldemort never dreamed of, you're just too noble to use them."

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, _Voldemort_, was frightened of." **

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have." **

**"Only because you're too - Well - _noble _to use them." **

At this, everyone checkled. George poked his sister and teased, "Guess McGonagall has rubbed off on you a bit, eh?"

Ginny simply smiled and replied, "There are worse people to emulate."

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." **

Everyone burst into laughter, glad to have a break from the tension. Albus blushed at the thought, as it hadn't happened yet, and popped another lemon drop in his mouth.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the _rumors _that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" **

"Finally, we get to the crux of the matter." Remus said, his chin in his hand, pondering.

"Please don't use that term," Harry asked, an inscrutable look on his face. Remus, surprised, nodded his assent.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. **

**"What they're _saying_," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. **

"Oh…Oh, my…" Lily began, then trailed off as her eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears. James wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and braced himself for the worst.

**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - _dead_." **

Harry had fully expected chaos to break out again at this pronouncement, but was surprised at the silence that he was greeted with. He had long since come to terms with his parents being deceased, and had simply wanted to meet them for the sake of meeting them. It hadn't occurred to him that they, and their friends, would be faced with a potentially large amount of grief. Hopefully, they would achieve what they wanted, and this wouldn't have to happen.

Harry glanced at the people sitting around the room. While his contemporaries were certainly saddened at the reminder of that particular night, his parents and their friends all had a shell-shocked look to them. Remus' eyes had turned amber, and his lips had a white ring around them, as if he was suppressing a growl. Sirius' face had blanched, as had Severus', although the former was muttering quietly to himself.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **

**"Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know… " he said heavily. **

"Well, we know they care about us," James said thickly, as if he was fighting off a barrage of tears.

"Of course we do, James," Albus replied heavily.

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. **

"No!" Lily screamed, startling the room at large, "Not my baby!" and she folded in upon herself. James wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her to him.

With that, Harry could no longer keep his seat, although he was surprised at the amount of comfort he took in the fact that Draco's hand was again gripping his shoulder. He made his way across the room and threw his arms around his parents in a tight family hug, muttering,

"It's alright, Mum, I'm here. I'm fine."

Lily nodded, sniffled, and waved for Hermione to continue.

**But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone." **

**Dumbledore nodded glumly. **

**"It's - it's _true_?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know." **

"Mr. Potter, may I ask if you ever found out the reason?" Dumbledore asked Harry, who was now seated between Lily and James, his arms around their shoulders.

"Eventually, yes, but I can't tell you without ruining the story." Harry replied, with a slight grimace, "Let's just say that there was extremely dark magic involved."

Albus nodded in understanding, then returned to his musings.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?" **

"What does that watch actually do, Professor?" Alice asked, trying to lighten the mood, "I assume it doesn't tell time."

"You assume correctly, Ms. Prewett. It keeps track of the Hogwarts' staff and classes. Only the headmaster knows how to read it."

"Oh ok, that's kind of nifty," Alice replied, nodding.

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me _why _you're here, of all places?" **

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now." **

"I was afraid of that," sniffled Lily. I'd hoped my parents were still living, but they were getting on in years when they had Tuney and I. I suppose it's too much to hope that she was decent to you?" Lily turned to Harry, her brows raised. Harry shrugged noncommittally,

"They could have been worse."

**"You don't mean - you _can't _mean the people who live _here_?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!" **

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter." **

"A letter? A bleeding letter?" Lily asked Albus, her face flushing and temper rising. Albus, sensing danger, raised his hands in surrender,

"I'm sure my future self has his reasons, Ms. Evans. And keep in mind the last time I had correspondence with Petunia." At this, Lily visibly calmed,

"Yes, yes, I can see why a letter would be the better option than knocking on the door late at night. But still, why them? Why not a wizarding family?"

"I'm sure Minerva will ask that also," Albus replied.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?**

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!" **

**"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?" **

"That's probably true," Harry volunteered, "I could have grown up a spoiled prat like a certain someone in the room," he finished with a wink in Draco's direction. Draco responded with a rude hand gesture in Harry's direction.

"Draco! I don't want to see that again, young man!" Molly scolded the blond across the room. Draco had the decency to look abashed as he muttered, "yes, ma'am."

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. **

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it - _wise - _to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Harry firmly.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"Apparently, you have more in common than taste in sweets," Ron chuckled at his mate.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?" **

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. **

"A flying motorcycle? That's awesome! I want one!" Sirius shouted, bouncing in his seat. Regulus rolled his eyes at his brother's antics, causing Hermione to giggle before taking up her reading.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so _wild - _long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

There was a chorus of coos from all the ladies in the room, and general laughter from the men. Harry blushed and moved back to his original seat, slightly embarrassed.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?" **

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"Yes! I do get one!" Sirius shouted, then danced a small circle around the room, making everyone in the room laugh at his antics.

**"No problems, were there?" **

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall. **

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever." **

At that, everyone in the room glanced at Harry's forehead. Sighing dramatically, he pulled his fringe away and let everyone get their look. He turned to show Draco, who simply shrugged and said,

"I've seen it, nothing special.

"Harry smiled at the blond in gratitude, and the gesture was caught by Hermione, who'd noticed the two getting progressively closer over the past couple of months. It had never occurred to her that Harry might be into blokes, but she supposed that after so many crazy fan-girls, it didn't exactly surprise her.

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" **

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

At Sirius' hopeful look, Albus simply smiled benignly and shook his head.

"I'm not quite the exhibitionist Mr. Potter is."

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with." **

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house. **

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog. **

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!" **

"Nah, it'd take more than that to wake Aunt Petunia up. Vernon, on the other hand…" Harry mused aloud.

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles-"**

"Wow, I didn't know Hagrid cared so much for us," Lily sniffled and laid her head on James' shoulder. "I wonder what Sirius is doing, anyway, that he can't take care of Harry?"

"I was wondering that also," Sirius said, "or even Remus, he's fairly responsible, despite our best efforts."

Remus stuck his tongue out at his friend in response.

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"You left him on the doorstep? What if someone had taken him! What if he had caught cold, or the flu? What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" Molly ranted at Albus, completely distraught at the idea of an infant being left alone on cold winter night.

Albus couldn't argue for himself, not sure what his future self was thinking beyond keeping Harry safe. He assumed that he had set up blood wards, hence the need to stay with a blood relative, but there was no reason to not wake Petunia so that the boy could be taken inside. He placed these thoughts in the back of his head, should this situation arise in his future.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out. **

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations." **

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." **

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night. **

"That is so cool…" Sirius said dreamily.

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. **

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured.**

"Thanks, sir, I needed it," Harry told his mentor, grinning slightly.

**He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. **

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…**

George was furiously scribbling prank ideas onto a piece of parchment, with the heading "Dudley Dursley." Curious, Sirius glanced over his shoulder and grinned evilly. Pointing to one particular one, he whispered in George's ear, and the redhead smiled and nodded vigorously, then made a small notation on his sheet.

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

That's the end of the chapter, Hermione said, holding the book up. Does somebody particularly want to read, or do you want to just pass it along.

"Let's just pass it to the next person, that way everyone gets to read, and no one slacks off," Remus suggested, with a glare at Sirius, who pouted in response.

"Works for me," Hermione replied, handing the book to Ron, who opened it to the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer in Chapter 1**

**A/N: 'Ello again! Sorry it took me a few days to get this up. Between going out to watch the Independence Day fireworks, looking for a job, and having to share my netbook with my husband, it took a couple of days to get this done. Tomorrow, however, my brother and hubby both have to work, so I should have computer access. Yay! According to the site, this chapter is 9,618 words, but I think it's because there's not much of an intro this time. I looked over it for typos, but if you see anything, please let me know in a review. When the entire story is done, I'm going to go back and edit it.**

**Also, if it seems like I left a particular character out, or if you think someone needs more lines, please let me know. I'm surprised at how hard it is to juggle so many people. Thanks for reading!**

Ron sat up as he took the book from Hermione, glancing around at his assembled audience. He'd always had a problem with doing anything in front of a crowd. He remembered Hermione muttering something about performance anxiety once, he just knew that doing anything out of his comfort zone made him highly nervous.

"Just focus on the book, don't look around," the girl next to him whispered in his ear as she rubbed soothing circles on his back. Ron nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat and looking town at the printed text and squinting at it until the lines were no longer blurry. He took a deep breath and began.

**The Vanishing Glass**

"Sounds like we're about to hear about some of your accidental magic," James said, smiling at Harry. Harry simply grimaced in reply, much to the former's confusion. Lily, however, also caught Harry's expression. Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her wand, which had heretofore been sitting in her lap. Thoughts of what she would do to Petunia should she hurt her son in any way making dark green and red sparks shoot from the end of her wand.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

"Told you lot," Sirius gave an aggravated sigh. "Normal means dead dull."

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

"That's not just dull, it's a bit creepy," Alice grimaced. "After all, who doesn't move their furniture around a bit in ten years?"

"I'm not surprised at all," Severus said quietly, surprising everyone. So far, he'd had little to say since he'd gone pale white at the news of Lily's death. He also had to admit, if he absolutely had to, that it bothered him, just a bit, that the "elder" Potter had been killed also. He raised a brow at the questioning looks he received, and both brows shot up when Hermione put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Sorry, erm, Severus. You'll find out in the near future why I can't take that expression seriously. No pun intended, of course," Hermione chuckled as she winked at Sirius. The handsome Marauder was taken slightly aback by the young woman, he'd been under the impression she was rather close to the red-head she'd been sitting next to. Resolving to chat with her a bit later on, he winked back and replied, "That's an old one, I don't think about it anymore."

"Ugh, glad to hear it," Regulus said, wrinkling his nose, and startling several of the people around him, as he'd been so quiet. "He used to drive Mother crazy. Every time she would tell him she was serious about something, he'd promptly reply with that silly bit."

"Fascinating as all this is," Severus smirked at Regulus, who rolled his eyes in reply, "I was going to make mention that Petunia is extremely neurotic. It doesn't surprise me at all that her interior decorating hasn't changed in ten years."

"She is that," Lily conceded, sighing. "Sharing a room with her over summer holiday is torture, she's such a neat freak."

Ron, who had been staring intently at the page during this exchange, started reading again when Hermione patted him gently on the knee.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother.**

"Why are there no pictures of you, Harry?" Remus asked, an inscrutable look in his eyes, which still held an amber tint in the normal dark brown.

"I reckon I'd never had any taken," Harry shrugged in response. James considered asking why not, but something about the look on his son's face stayed his questions.

**The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. **

"Maybe one of us came to get you…" Sirius began hopefully, gesturing between him and Remus, "or Professor Dumbledore found a safe, nice Wizarding family for you to stay with…" He trailed off as Harry smiled at him sadly.

"If that were the case, Padfoot, we probably wouldn't be here."

Draco, who'd known very little of Harry's personal life, placed his hand on the shorter man's shoulder again, in an effort to give a bit of comfort. Albus, seeing the blond's gesture, did the same on Harry's other side. Shooting them both smiles of gratitude, he made a slight motion to Hermione, who he'd noticed was giving Ron cues. Harry had forgotten about Ron's stage fright when the suggestion of reading in turn came up, but hoped that the practice might help him deal with some of it.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day. **

"**Up! Get up! Now!" **

Lily grimaced, then offered Harry a small, sympathetic smile.

"I've been woken up that way, more times than I care to count."

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. **

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Obviously, it wasn't a dream, although I'm amazed you could remember that far back," Frank mused aloud. "You must have an amazing capacity for memorizing spells."

"Only the defensive ones," Harry replied with a slight smile. "And some charms. I've never been very good at the spells used in potions, nor household charms."

"That's the truth," Molly muttered, "although he's certainly neater than that one," she gestured at Ron, who's ears had turned a dark pink.

**His aunt was back outside the door. **

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded. **

"**Nearly," said Harry. **

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"Let me get this straight," Molly began, temper obviously rising as evident by the flush on her cheeks. "That…that.._woman_, had you watching a hot pan, on a hot stove, unsupervised, at ten years old?" She whispered the last, making Harry shudder before he nodded. He knew from experience that when Mrs. Weasley got quiet, someone would suffer. He found himself rather glad that he'd long since lost touch with his aunt.

**Harry groaned. **

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door. **

"**Nothing, nothing…"**

"You really shouldn't fib, Harry," Arthur admonished teasingly, making Harry grin. "Although this time I think we can overlook it, eh?"

Harry gave a half-shrug in reply, drawing a few chuckles from the room.

**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,**

Ron shuddered briefly. The gesture was caught by George, who had the decency to look abashed at the glares both parents sent his way. Ron's fear of spiders had long since been ingrained in him, there wasn't much he could do about it at present, as he pointed out to his mum every time she tried to make them, him, he corrected himself sadly, guilty.

**put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. **

Ron suddenly stopped reading and looked up at his best mate, a scowl on his face. Harry noticed, uncomfortably, that Hermione also looked rather murderous. Before he could head off the imminent fireworks, a growl burst forth from the right side of the room.

"THOSE…THOSE…BLOODY GITS MADE YOU SLEEP IN A SHOE CUPBOARD? HOW DARE THEY…I'M GOING TO…TO…TO…I DON'T KNOW WHAT BUT IT'S GOING TO BE HORRID. THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT THEM!"

Suddenly, a streak of light went past Harry and hit Remus, freezing him in the position he was standing in, and causing him to topple backwards awkwardly into the chair. No one had the nerve to laugh, as they were all taken aback by the usually quiet boy's outburst. Albus, who had been the caster, said very quietly,

"Mr. Lupin, do control your temper. When you are completely calm, the body bind will wear off. If you would continue, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron, still annoyed and angry at Harry for not fully disclosing his childhood abuse, especially to the person he considered closest, with the exception of perhaps Hermione, took the headmaster's advice and continued reading.

**When he was dressed, he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

At this, George pulled his parchment out again and began scribbling more prank ideas, occasionally handing the list off to Sirius to add to. His favorite, so far, involved puffskeins, twenty feet of rope, and a mad krup.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast**.

"Potter genes at work," James chuckled, as he gave Harry a once-over. "I see you've already hit your growth spurt. How old are you lot, anyway?"

"Ron, Draco, Neville and I are eighteen, and Hermione is nineteen, as her birthday is in late September." Harry replied.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

"There's that, also," Lily sighed, "I could strangle Petunia at the moment."

"Hopefully, you won't have to, dear," Molly replied sympathetically.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"You sound just like James at eleven," Sirius smiled at Harry, who grinned back. They were both gratified to see that Remus had calmed down enough to twitch his lips a bit. He understood why Dumbledore had cast the bind on him, to keep the wolf within from taking over and doing who knew what to whom.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

"Sounds like you inherited my eyesight also," James chuckled, "Sorry about that, mate. Our vision is atrocious."

"I know," Harry chuckled in reply. "A few months ago Hermione drug me to an oculist. He said there wasn't a spell strong enough to make any difference."

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. **

"You mean you actually _liked_ your scar at one point," Ginny asked incredulously.

"Yea, before I knew what had caused it," Harry replied, and Ginny nodded understandingly.

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. **

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.**

"Car crash? Seriously, that's what she came up with?" Severus asked, his lip curled in distaste. "As if a vehicle could actually kill a wizard. We'd just apparate out of it."

"I'm sure you'll find out soon why I believed her," Harry sighed in reply.

"**And don't ask questions." **

"And that would be why," He continued, smiling indulgently at Hermione, who looked scandalized, as did both Severus and Regulus, who was the first to speak up.

"But, how can you learn things without asking questions? What kind of dolts did you live with?"

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

"Which, ultimately, is what I was after as a child," Harry explained to the room at large, who all had various degrees of murderous looks on their faces. "Keep in mind that I _was_ a kid."

"Mr. Potter makes a valid point," Albus continued, "and from the sound if it, had no idea who he was or where he came from. Am I getting warm?" He asked Harry, the usual twinkle in his blue eyes slightly subdued.

"Oh, but that would ruin the story, professor," Harry replied mischievously.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. **

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"Like that will work," muttered Harry and James at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment, then both chuckled at the other.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place. **

"I believe the Potter hair has always done that," Sirius said, James nodding in confirmation. "Your grandfather's hair grew all over the place also, except it was dark brown instead of black. You get the color from your grandmother."

"I didn't know that," Harry replied. "I don't have any pictures of my extended family. I only remember seeing them once, and I didn't know who was who," Harry mused, thinking of the Mirror of Erised.

"How did you see your family if you've no photos," Frank asked, interest perking up. Harry simply shook his head and replied, grinning.

"Nope, not telling. I'm sure it will come up."

With that, Hermione patted Ron's knee again.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. **

"Sounds like a pig in a wig," Remus muttered, finally free of the Headmaster's bind. He strongly suspected he'd also been hit with a strong calming charm of some sort. The situation made him glad that Harry had had the foresight to ask, or summon, more experienced wizards along. He shuddered internally at the idea of what would've happened if he'd let his temper run away with him.

Both Severus and Sirius chuckled at his comment, then stared balefully at one another for a moment.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

"Guess we think alike, eh, Moony?" Harry asked the sandy-haired teenager with a smile.

"Guess so," Remus replied, wondering how Harry had come to know his nickname, and wondering if he knew the reasoning behind it. As Ron began to read again, he shelved that line of questioning to the back of his mind.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." **

"Oh, goodness," Alice exclaimed. "Not only a brat, but a spoiled one."

"Believe me, I know spoiled," Draco chuckled as he removed his hand from Harry's shoulder and stretched. "But even I, and certainly my parents, would have thought that a bit, and by that I really mean a lot, excessive."

"Oh, you mean the pampered Slytherin prince didn't get everything he wanted?" Harry teased the blond sitting next to him. Draco grinned back at him good-naturedly.

"Of course I did, Potter, I just had the common sense to not demand everything at once."

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy." **

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. **

Everyone in the room, except the Weasley children, were surprised to see red and gold sparks shoot from the end of Arthur's wand. He'd said very little, having met the Dursleys once already, and didn't trust himself to say something that shouldn't be said in mixed company. His children knew that the one thing that their father absolutely did not tolerate was tantrums, and that would get them a punishment from him faster than anything else.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?" **

At this, sparks flew from several wands, and in an effort to keep the peace, Harry mentally asked the room to provide a target of some sort. Within a few minutes, a life-size wooden dummy had been produced, and before long, several hexes had been fired at it.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"You mean the big lout couldn't even count?" Neville asked disbelievingly. Harry smiled ruefully as he shook his head.

"'Fraid not. I did all of his homework for him, so his inability to grasp arithmetic didn't surprise me at the time, and his current inability to find a Uni that will accept him doesn't surprise me either."

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. **

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. **

Harry flinched as several more hexes found their way to the dummy, especially a dark purple one he recognized as _sectumsempra, _that severed the arm of the dummy, causing it to fall to the floor with a soft thud. It hadn't come from the direction of Severus' wand, as Harry would've thought, but rather his mum's. They both turned to her with surprised expressions, but neither had the nerve to say anything at sight of the dark, inscrutable look on her face.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. **

"Ridiculous," James muttered as several people, including Draco and Neville asked,

"What's a VCR?"

"It is short for video cassette recorder," Hermione replied to the room at large, "they are used to play moving pictures, or movies for short."

"Oh, you mean that thin black box at your flat that's hooked to the velly-tision?" Ron asked, grinning as he looked up. "Those moving comics are neat."

Hermione grinned back in response as she corrected him, then patted him on the knee again to remind him that he was reading.

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. **

"Heaven forbid anything worry poor Tuney," Severus muttered, causing Lily to giggle briefly.

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."**

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction. **

"Have they ever called you by your name?" Hermione asked Harry, scowling.

"Generally, no," Harry replied honestly, "It was usually 'boy', if they had to acknowledge my existence at all." At this admission, several more hexes went flying towards the dummy.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. **

"Figg, where do I know that name from?" Sirius asked, lost in thought.

"The Figgs are a squib couple, Sirius," James replied. They used to own the Magical Menagerie, remember? Then they sold out and retired, apparently they settled down in a muggle neighborhood. Did you ever meet Archie, Harry? He wasn't nearly as mad as Arabella, and a good bloke."

Harry shook his head in reply, swallowing the candy he'd been sucking on before replying, "No, he must've passed away before I came to live there. I don't know if they actually retired there, or if she moved there later," he continued, thinking of Mrs. Figg's spying on him for the Order.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. **

"That's definitely her," growled Remus, who was not particularly fond of cats. "Mad old cat lady. I don't blame you for not wanting to spend much time with her."

Harry chuckled and replied, "She wasn't all bad, she usually had something cold to drink, at least"

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"Must be the walrus' sister," James muttered to himself, but not quietly enough that Sirius didn't overhear him.

"I am the walrus, coo coo cachoo…" Sirius sung in reply, then chuckled.

Lily shook her head in frustration, her hand on her forehead as she muttered, "I really shouldn't have introduced you two to muggle music."

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. **

"You two are the slugs," Neville muttered to no one in particular, folding his arms, his wand clenched in his right hand, to avoid wearing himself out from hexing the dummy. Although Neville himself didn't notice, Frank, and the rest of the room (except Ron, who was steadfastly staring at the book,) noticed that Alice was sitting, and scowling, in the exact same position.

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. **

"She actually wasn't that bad, as long as I stayed out of her way." Harry assured at some of the dark looks he observed around the room.

"Still, Harry," Hermione argued, "All of your relatives' stress and worry seems a bit excessive. Why couldn't they just take you along for the day? Or better yet, just leave you at home?"

Harry didn't answer, but gestured for Ron to continue, and Hermione elbowed the redhead lightly.

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

"I know that expression," Lily sighed, then smiled slightly when she saw Severus nod in agreement. Her old friend seemed to be lost in thought, his chin in his hand. She'd seen him take that pose several times while playing chess or trying to work out a particularly difficult puzzle.

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled. **

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"Don't speak too soon," Sirius chuckled, "your father certainly did. Your grandparents had a horrid time trying to clean that up, from what I understand."

James stuck his tongue out at his best mate and at Harry's curious look, he waved and said "I'll tell you about it later."

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "…and leave him in the car…"**

"In the middle of summer? Really, now, Tuney, I think you've gotten more ridiculous with age," Severus muttered, then blushed when he caught Lily's eye twinkling with unsounded laughter.

"I'm rather glad they didn't," Harry shuddered, "Vernon would have been loads worse if he'd had to deal with the authorities for leaving a minor in a hot car. He was pretty anti-law as it was."

"That's interesting to know, Mr. Potter," Albus replied, running his hand down his beard in thought. "Perhaps the muggle authorities might be interested in your uncle."

"Very true, Professor, I was thinking something along those lines, myself," Hermione said.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"**

"Git," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes. "As if I cared about ruining his precious auto."

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

There were several noises of disgust around the room, and several mutters of "Brat."

"**Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"Oh good Lord," Molly rolled her eyes in disgust, "She'd didn't actually fall for that?" Molly had been privy to too many fits and fake tears to be impressed by Dudley's antics.

"Unfortunately," Harry muttered as he patted Albus's hand in thanks. When the old man removed his hand to his lap, he gave Harry a sympathetic smile. Harry stood and stretched, and grinned when the hardback chair he'd been sitting in transformed into a leather recliner.

"How did you do that, mate?" Sirius asked, also standing up from his chair, stretching. Harry explained about the room responding to mental requests, and grinned as Sirius squeezed his eyes shut, then smiled as what looked like a wingback chair from the library at Grimmauld place appeared.

There were several groans as people stood to stretch, and several pops as chairs and sofas of varying shapes and sizes were transformed out of the hardback chairs the room had originally provided. Harry was glad to see that the room was still slowly healing itself. He wondered briefly it is was because the future was already slowly changing, or just a matter of a passage of time. Shrugging that loopy train of thought off, he was interested to see that Albus had wished for the chair from behind his desk.

**"I… don't… want… him… t-t-to… come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

George shook his head in disgust, and raised an eyebrow at the sparks that were coming out of his mum's wand. He didn't want to be in Dursley's shoes if she ever got her hands on him.

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. **

"Peirs Polkiss? Really, where did their parents come up with those names," Neville asked, wrinking his nose.

"I quite agree," Frank replied, smiling at his son, who grinned back. Frank debated asking him about his scars, but decided that this was neither the time nor the place.

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Oh, too manly to fake it in front of your mates, then. That's brave…" George muttered to his sister, who shook her head, chuckling.

"Well, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer," Ginny muttered back, "maybe it didn't occur to him he looked like a big prat."

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

At this, Lily crossed to Harry's chair and sat on the arm, putting her arm around his shoulders in support. Even though these events happened in her future, and the point of reading these books was to make sure than some of these things never had to happen, she regretted not being there for her son's formative years.

Harry, who's throat had closed up at his mother's touch, didn't say anything, he only put his arm around her waist in return, hugging her slightly in return. The occupants of the room smiled in varying degrees around the room.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

At this, orange sparks shot from the end of Remus' wand, and his lips compressed again. Albus, sensing the teen's impending anger, shifted his wand from his sleeve into his hand in preparation.

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas." **

Before Remus had a chance to yell again, Albus flicked his wand, sending another calming charm his way.

Harry, who had expected chaos to erupt again, was surprised by the thick silence. Glancing around the room, he saw several murderous looks, the most frightening, by far, were on the visages of his two best friends.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"No, I would imagine not," Lily sighed in Harry's ear. "Accidental magic?"

"Yes," Harry replied lowly, "although I didn't know it at the time. I thought weird things just happened to me."

"Which is ridiculous, as Petunia is perfectly aware of the truth," Lily sighed and hugged the man she was coming more and more to think of as her son again.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

"Well, mate, you sort of _do_," Neville chuckled, relieved to see Harry grin in response before continuing. "Wish it had been me, Gran was afraid I was a squib for quite some time."

"Gran?" Frank questioned, his brows aloft, "which one? And where are we?" he asked, gesturing between him and Alice, who also had a questioning look on her face.

"Gran Longbottom, your mum. And, well, you're, er…"

"It will come up," Harry said quietly, "later on. But if you want to tell them, Nev, you might want to wait until we quit for the evening. So you can talk in private."

"Yes, lets," Neville said, giving Harry a grateful smile. Frank nodded in agreement, wondering what had happened in his son's life to make the young man stare at he and Alice so sadly.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

"It'll grow back overnight, thankfully." James laughed. "That's not accidental, Potter hair just does that. It will get longer, but cutting is just not an option."

Harry nodded in agreement, remembering the first time he'd seen his reflection after the Horcrux hunt.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. **

James grinned triumphantly, and made a "see?" gesture with his hand, causing everyone to chuckle. Harry was happy that some of the tension had been relieved.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. **

"She should know, having grown up with Lily," Molly scowled. "Honestly, accidental magic is not that uncommon in magical children."

"Oh, she knew," James scowled in response, "She just didn't care."

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). **

"Eww," Hermione scrunched up her nose, then giggled at some of the looks that were shot her way. "What? Even Harry admitted that's revolting," She continued, and was awarded with several chuckles.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. **

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. **

"Well, that's good," Sirius grinned at Harry, who smiled back. "At least you got out of that one."

Remus' lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but was holding it in with all of his might.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. **

"You apparated?" Draco asked, surprised. "I wasn't aware children could."

"No, I sort of floated up, like the wind caught me." Harry replied, grinning at his mum.

"Oh, yes, I did that too, but going down. Usually jumping off swings."

"I know," Harry replied, lowly, so that no one could overhear him. He was rewarded by a look of surprise, and continued, "You'll find out how I know eventually."

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy," Albus replied, overhearing Harry's exchange, but choosing to ignore it for the time being. "Children have been known to apparate inadvertently to somewhere they believe safe, usually in cases of extreme abuse."

"Oh," Draco replied, taken aback. He'd given little thought to other children as a child himself, as he'd been kept spoiled and happy. However, as an adult, it was hard to miss the homeless children wandering the streets, victims of a war not of their making. He could feel his heart strings stirring, pushing him to use his wealth to attempt to make some sort of difference.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump. **

"Petunia should have known better," Severus muttered, green sparks shooting from the end of his wand. He'd been trying his best to keep his temper, not wanting to appear as hot-headed as the Gryffindors around him, but Lily's sister and her idiotic husband were starting to grate on his nerves.

Glancing around, he saw the elder Weasley boy muttering to himself and scratching notes on a bit of paper. George happened to look up at the same moment and catch his eyes. Grinning a bit evilly, he folded the paper up and handed it to Sirius, whispering in the Marauder's ear. Sirius handed the paper to him, reaching over Remus, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Severus opened it, glanced over the prank ideas, and smirked. Pulling a quill out of the pocket of his robes, he began to add a few notes.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

"Famous last words," Harry muttered to no one in particular.

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. **

"I'll bet," Remus muttered, shuddering at the memory of the one time he'd been in the Figgs' house. It had reeked of cat urine and stale potatoes.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"I think he likes you, Harry," Ginny chuckled as she offered a sympathetic smile. Harry smiled in response as Lily squeezed him again.

"…**roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them. **

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." **

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, mate," Sirius said, "but I do believe that was the wrong thing to say."

"Wonder what gave you that impression, Captain Obvious," Regulus replied.

Sirius didn't reply, but made a rude hand gesture, then yelped and rubbed his hand. Molly had a distinctly gratified look on her face as she crossed her arms.

Regulus smirked in reply, and George winced in sympathy. He'd been on the receiving end of his mum's stinging hex many a time.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" **

"Sure they do," Sirius said, "Mine does, at any rate."

"What an arse," Frank muttered, "it was only a dream." Alice, who had been steadily hexing the dummy, nodded in agreement.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

"Prats," She muttered as two more dummies appeared, and she hexed them each in turn.

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." **

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. **

"No, that's our, I mean my area." George chuckled, then sighed. Harry gave him a small, sympathetic smile, and was relieved with George gave him a small smile in return.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"Ooh, I like those," Hermione said, licking her lips. Again, Kreacher popped into the room, bearing another tray, this time with various cold treats. He bowed to Harry, then to Regulus, grabbed the empty candy tray and popped back out of the room.

"I like them too," Harry grinned as they each took a lemon popsicle. Everyone chose what they wanted, except Ron who continued reading quickly, so that he could get himself a treat sooner.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond. **

There was general laughter around the room at this thought.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

"Did it ever occur to you to hit back?" James asked Harry, a malicious smile on his face.

"Of course," Harry replied, grinning mischievously, "but Vernon would've killed me. I found ways to get him back, though."

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

"Well, I'm glad you got rewarded for his brat-like behavior for a change," Molly sighed, resigning herself to the fact that nothing she could do would make Dudley change, as she couldn't give him a new personality.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Uh, oh," Sirius grinned, "I smell more accidental magic."

Harry sighed in response. He remembered this trip, it was the first time he'd ever had a snake speak to him. He wondered how the room was going to react to his rare ability. He'd assumed that when Voldemort was killed, he would lose the ability as it had been transferred to him from the despot, but it had been while de-gnoming the garden at the Burrow that he'd heard a small garter snake singing, of all things. He wasn't altogether repulsed by the idea of retaining his snake-speaking talents, as he hoped it would convince people that it wasn't a dark talent.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house.**

"That's actually my favorite part of the zoo," Lily grinned at her son, and a small sliver of hope wormed it's way into Harry's heart.

**It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can** - **but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

"Well, that's a bit dull," Remus said, "although I would be thankful for the cool air in and of itself."

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

"I'd like to tap on his head," Ginny muttered, wishing Dudley would move on.

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Ginny muttered quietly to her brother, who nodded in agreement.

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house. **

Lily squeezed the young man to her again, wishing there was something she could have done for him. He offered her a small, grateful smile as he returned her affectionate gesture. James, seeing the exchange, smiled softly at the gesture.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. **

**It winked.**

"It did wha…" Remus trailed off, at the same time that Severus and Regulus both said,

"Snakes can't wink."

"Well, I assure you, that one did," Harry chuckled in reply.

"Really, Harry," Regulus continued, "snakes cannot blink. They don't have eyelids."

"Odd," Harry replied, "perhaps it was my magic that made it react that way."

"Perhaps," Albus confirmed, "magic can incorporate itself in many different ways."

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. **

"What'd you do that for," Sirius asked, rolling his eyes. "One would think you _liked_ snakes or something."

"Or something," Harry replied enigmatically.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: **

"**I get that all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." **

**The snake nodded vigorously. **

"The snake. It understood you?" Severus asked abruptly, then blanched at Harry's nod.

"You mean you're a parseltongue?" James asked. Harry was happy to note there was more of a curios tone to his voice than accusing, although Snape's scrutinizing stare was starting to make him slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes, I can speak to snakes. It's actually come in a bit handy." At this, both Hermione and Ron snorted, holding back their giggles.

"Yes, I can see how that would be. I don't know where you got that ability from, though, there haven't been any in our family."

"No, and you'll find out, eventually," Harry replied, "I have to admit I'm surprised you're taking this so well."

"Well, we're not exactly thrilled," Remus replied for James, "as parsel-magic has always considered to be a bit, well, dark. However, you seem like an alright bloke despite this."

Harry grinned happily at the man who would become his favorite professor.

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. **

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. **

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"Ooh, I'd like to go there. I've always wanted to go to the Carribean," Ginny sighed dreamily.

"Maybe we will, when we get done here," Hermione replied, and Ginny nodded fervently in agreement. Hopefully, Ginny thought to herself, as a celebratory trip.

"**Was it nice there?" **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

"Stupid prat," Neville muttered, and grinned when he saw his mum nod in agreement.

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

"Now would've been the perfect opportunity to jump and tackle him, Harry," James instructed, holding his fists up in a silly fighting pose.

"Thanks for the advice, but I handled it," Harry replied, laughing.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

"Must've been good then," Frank grinned.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

There were several gasps around the room from the women, and several chuckles from the men

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. **

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."**

"I still can't believe you are a parseltongue," Severus muttered more to himself than to Harry. Harry just rolled his eyes in response, making Lily giggle.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. **

"I'll bet he was," Arthur chuckled. "Hopefully it won't be too long until someone from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad shows up and helps him.

"There's actually a crew just for that?" Hermione asked, curiously. Before Harry had approached her, she'd been discussing with Percy which departments of the Ministry had openings.

"Of course," Arthur replied. "It's a full time job keeping up with magical children that are either muggle-born or live in highly muggle areas. And that's not even counting the children that go on day-trips and have accidents such as this one."

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" **

"Because that's the kind of thing that happens. If the Squad hadn't come along, he would eventually convince himself he was going mad." Arthur explained.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**.

"Of course he did," Frank sighed, annoyed. "I suppose it's too much to ask that your aunt, who is obviously aware of what happened, stood up for you?"

"I recon so," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"He starved you?" Molly asked, dangerously quiet. Harry didn't really have the nerve to answer her, he only half-shrugged in response.

"You poor dear," Lily whispered, and Harry could see she was trying to hold back tears.

"When we get done, I think we'll have a word with Mr. Vernon Dursley, eh, mates?" James asked his two fellow Marauders, cracking his knuckles. Remus and Sirius, both scowling, nodded in agreement. Harry only slightly hoped that that wouldn't be necessary.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. **

"Well, I'm glad to see you have _some_ Marauder in you," Sirius said, relaxing a bit. "I was starting to wonder."

"You don't think I'd honestly let myself starve?" Harry asked, mentally adding _not on purpose, anyway_, thinking of the summer before his second year.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died.**

There were several snorts and general noises of digust and disbelief around the room.

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

The room became suddenly quiet again. After a few minutes, Ginny was the one to break it.

"You actually remember that?" She asked quietly.

"Yea," Harry replied, just as quietly, "and unfortunately, dementors only exacerbate the memory."

"No wonder," she replied, but didn't elaborate. Harry, knowing what she was referring to, nodded in agreement.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. **

"Should it bother me that you can remember moldy shorts but not your own Dad?" James asked, trying to break the tension. He was rewarded with a few chuckles.

"I still want to know where we've disappeared to," Sirius wondered aloud, gesturing between him and Remus. "Or even Sev over here, since he and Lily were good friends. I would imagine she'd rather him raise him than her batty sister."

"That's a fair point," Lily said to Harry as she stood from the arm chair and moved back to sitting next to her boyfriend. "I don't suppose you're going to enlighten us, though?"

"Nope," Harry replied, popping the "P".

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

At this, Lily sighed. Harry, feeling for her, smiled and said,

"I have photos now, Mum."

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. **

"Wizards, I would imagine," Albus mused aloud, "although they were probably aware that you didn't know who you were supposed to be."

"Yea, it was frustrating at times," Harry scowled in reply.

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything.**

"Sounds like it could be Dedalus Diggle, or Filius, either one." Albus mused out loud.

**A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus.**

"That could be anyone," Alice supplied, "although my money is on Doris Crockford. She's the only person I know that looks mad and always wears green."

**A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. **

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," Harry supplied, grinning. I recognized him when I met him properly, of course.

**The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. **

"Sounds like the apparated away," Hermione scowled, "that's a bit rude."

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Ron said hoarsely, finally looking up and around. He stretched and grabbed a popsicle for himself from the tray, letting the ice cool his sore throat.

"Well, that was a rather abrupt ending," Hermione said, producing a couple of sugar free candies from her pocket and offering one to Regulus. The dark-haired young man took it with a small smile, which Hermione returned. He'd barely popped the candy in his mouth, which he was surprised to find was a tart strawberry, when Ron handed him the book. He grinned in response, not wanting to speak with food in his mouth, and all of his front teeth had turned black. At the sight, the entire room erupted in laughter, and Regulus conjured a mirror to see what had happened.

At the sight of his normally pearly whites, he laughed good-naturedly and promised a quick revenge as cast a cleaning spell on his mouth. As soon as the noise had calmed down to a dull roar, he picked up the book and turned it to the next chapter.


End file.
